David meets Goliath in the law courts of England in the 1990's. The advent of the Internet is leveling the playing field as a multinational corporation tries to silence two young political activists in a riveting court case that captivates the political and business world's attention. The company will try anything (sex, espionage, bribery and coercion) to stop or win this case. In fighting the corporation, a self-absorbed computer programmer discovers romance and a way to change the world one mega-pixel at a time.
Alon Shalev lives and writes in two worlds. He is the author of three social justice-themed novels and a series of Young Adult Epic Fantasy. He swears there is a connection.
In 2009, while on a family camping trip in Northern California, Shalev began writing an epic fantasy novel to read to his sons around the campfire. Over the next three years, both sons and the ancient redwood forests bore witness to the summoning of the Wycaan Masters.
His first epic fantasy novel, At The Walls Of Galbrieth, won the 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Award - YA Category and was a Grand Prize Finalist. The sequel, The First Decree, was released in March 2013, and the third book in the series, Ashbar, is expected in October. All books are published by Tourmaline Books.
More details of these novels can be found at the author's website (www.alonshalev.com) and he blogs weekly at www.elfwriter.com.
Shalev's activism is rooted in his teenage years campaigning with the Anti-Apartheid movement, for the release of Jews from the Soviet Union, and helping the burgeoning green movement. This led him to explore using fiction as a platform for social justice
Shalev continues to write in both genres. In 2012 Unwanted Heroes (pub. Three Clover Press) was released. Unwanted Heroes brings together an old, battle-scarred Chinese American war vet and an idealistic and pretentious young Englishmen, who share a love for San Francisco, coffee and wine. They soon discover they share even more when repressed memories bring them together as they find in each other unlikely allies to set themselves free from the tragic past that binds them both.
Other novels include:
A Gardener's Tale: a story of healing of family, land and community, along with a look at the Pagan religion and its time-honored impact upon rural communities.
The Accidental Activist: a fictional account of the astonishing 'McLibel' trial that captivated Britain in the 1990's, a David .v. Goliath court case that highlights the treachery and ruthlessness of the multinational corporations and how the advent of the Internet can curb them, when a few individuals refuse to back down. It is a defense of Freedom of Speech and the acknowledgment of the Internet as a tool for social change.
